Type 2:
Adjective + Noun (never joined when written) – STRESS ON
THE
SECOND WORD

Introduction

The basic idea is that when you speak a typical
adjective + noun combination, such as, "a delicious meal",
"an old man", or "a big dog", you do not
emphasize the adjective. Instead, you put a type of falling, emphatic
tone on the noun to show that the noun is the key word in your
statement. This is what I call "putting the key stress on the second word".
You will notice that this stress is not the same as the key stress used for
the first word in Type 1 combinations.

However, there are three times when you can speak
adjective + noun combinations with the heavier stress on the first word, the
adjective. When you do that, it sounds similar to the Type 1 stress pattern.
These are shown in a separate group called 'Type 9".

The three times when you should do that are:

a) when you want to emphasize the adjective such as
in, "It was an amazing experience!" or, "He did an
excellent job!"

b) when you are directly contrasting two adjectives
( = an explicit contrast), such as: "I've got an old
computer but she's got a new one." (IELTS examiners will
be looking to see if you know how to make this contrasting stress.)

c) when you are speaking an implicit contrast. When
you speak an "implicit contrast" (暗示的对比, 含蓄的对比)
you mean, "this adjective, not the opposite adjective", even though you
do not explicitly (directly) say this opposite adjective. For example,
perhaps two people are discussing a certain political 'problem' in the
world and one is talking about military action. Then the second person
says, "I'd prefer to find a peaceful solution to the
problem." By putting stress on the word, "peaceful", the second speaker
means, "not a military solution" but the second speaker did not directly
say those words.

There are a few expressions or commonly used
adjective + noun combinations that are (almost) always spoken with
this implicit contrast stress.

When you listen to these examples, it might seem that sometimes the
speaker says the adjective a little louder than the noun. But there is a
'falling tone' on the second word, the noun, that is spoken with an emphasis
and clarity that show that the noun is the more important of the two words
– the adjective describes that noun, i.e., gives more information about it
but the noun is the key word. Listen to these two examples: "an
old man"and an "old
woman". The stress on the second word here is not as
strong as and not the same as the stress on the first word for Type 1
compound nouns such as, "an
apple tree" and "decision
making".

Many of the examples shown here are common expressions that can be found
in the dictionary. But the same stress pattern is used for any
adjective + noun combination that you might form, such as, "a big
dog", "a good student" and, "a pretty girl".